La rentrée scolaire arrive bientôt! If you’re a French teacher planning for la rentrée scolaire, this blog post is for you. Today I am sharing a week of fun, engaging, and community-building activities.
I am a high school teacher in British Columbia (grades 8-12) so all of these activities can for sure be done with these age groups. If you teach younger students, they may need some adapting but they should still work!
First-day tasks – make it about your students and get them moving!!
The first day of classes can be so boring for high school students! First day of school normally means that your students are sitting through multiple classes where the teacher is reading the syllabus. My dear French teacher friend – BE DIFFERENT.
Get your students moving. Have your students begin to use the language. Get them to laugh and chat. Make the first day of French class FUN & INTERACTIVE.
My favourite way to do this is by playing Four Corners. The version I play is specifically geared towards building community at the start of the school year AND reviewing key vocab.
First impressions matter – blast those French songs for beginners as they walk into class for the first time
Listen, I am all about setting a good vibe for the first day of French class. I pick a really fun, catchy French song and I basically blast it as students are walking into class.
I want students to remember walking into class on that first day and feel excitement. French music just does that!
If you’re looking for French song suggestions, I have a playlist of my students’ favourite French songs which are just perfect for beginners.
Do a “Trouve quelqu’un qui…” activity!
This first day of French class is a classic for a reason. It gets your French students up and chatting. I have two you can download for free in my TPT.
Get your students dancing during this first of la rentrée scolaire
Okay, this one is SO fun.
Musical chairs without chairs is another game I play with my beginner French students in the first week of French. We spend tons of time practicing French greetings and salutations. Therefore, this game is perfect for the first week of French class!
Goal of this French game : to practice French salutations, greetings and conversational basics
What you need : catchy French music & a loud speaker
How it works :
- create a French music playlist filled with catchy French songs
- play an upbeat French song
- have your students stand up and begin to walk around the classroom
- stop the music after 30 seconds or so and have your students turn to the person closest to them to have a quick conversation
- repeat!
A rentrée scolaire essential : ask your students to fill out a survey
Stress to them that you want to know who they are as individuals and what they need from you as both humans and students. I have done this every single year and students always tell me really important information that helps me support all of their needs.
Make syllabus exploration tasks fun – turn it into a contest
Reading a syllabus as class can for sure be super boring. At the same time, it is also extremely important as it sets the stage for clear lines of communication. Students need to know exactly how the course will function day to day and week to week.
However, this crucial rentrée scolaire activity doesn’t have to be boring. Turn it into a scavenger hunt activity and put your students into groups. Give them a worksheet with questions and get them to answer the questions as quickly as possible (while being correct). I always love giving out candy to the first and second place groups.
I’m all about intrinisic AND extrinsic motivation – afterall, I convince myself to do things with the potential reward of an iced latte!
My amazing department head purchases a huge box of Chupa chups at the beginning of the year and then we’re set for months!
Try out Back to School Stations
These French Back to School stations are ideal for any high school French teacher who is interested in teaching classroom routines, procedures, and key skills in an interactive and creative manner.
We don’t expect elementary students to sit and be silent for 75 minutes during la rentrée scolaire, and we certainly should not expect that of our high school students.
What stations are included?
- Station 1 : Pourquoi apprendre le français? Learn about the status of the French language worldwide
- Station 2 : L’intégrité académique et le plagiat. Students will explore your school’s and your classroom’s policies on academic dishonesty.
- Station 3 : Mes buts pour cette année scolaire. Watch two super fun pep talks and deep dive into goal-setting.
- Station 4 : Quel type d’élève suis-je? Get your students to evaluate their work habits
- Station 5 : Le système scolaire en France. An easy reading comprehension article for intermediates OR YouTube video for beginners on the French school system.
How does one succeed in your class?
When I was in high school, I hated it when you never knew that your teacher wanted from you. It is super important to set clear expectations from the very start of la rentrée scolaire!
I love doing a big brainstorm with my students (this is one of the handouts you get if you grabbed your freebie from the top of the page).
Go ahead and split up your students up in teams. I ask them the question “how does one succeed in Madame ____ class”. I give them time to brainstorm and write down tons of points. Finally, we share our points as a class. At the very end, I add any crucial points I felt like the class was missing.
Play more games!
If you’re going to review concepts from the previous year, Jeopardy is STILL such a fun way to do it. Everytime I play Jeopardy with my students, they absolutely love it! They also love Bingo! Old school games (sorry – I know it makes me feel old too) are just as fun as Kahoot, if not more. In my opinion they are better in many ways because they get our kiddos to communicate with each other the old way!
Looking for a list of games to play with your students? Go read this detailed blog post.
Get to know your French students and have them practice concepts from last year
One of my favourite rentrée scolaire activities is Me voici activities. I’ve created a bunch of different Me voici activities.
- Me voici : la rentrée scolaire – the perfect task for second-year French students
- Me voici – moi, mes capacités et mes buts – excellent for third/fourth/fifth-year French students
- Me voici – un album – excellent task at the end of the year for first year French students
Begin class with Question du jour
Seriously – this is one of my favourite ways to begin class and it makes me submit my attendance on time!
Going to talk about Google Translate? Be sure to show your French classes this video!
My students LOVE this video! While it is quite dramatized (and so fun), it sends home the message that languages are far more nuanced than Google Translate could ever understand!
Community, community, community
The most important thing you can do during this first week of French class is BUILD COMMUNITY. There are a million ways to do this :
- share a little about yourself
- play bonding activities
- do activities where we celebrate strengths and our identities
- focus on growth mindset
- communicate and alleviate stress about your course. Be clear about every single one of your expectations!
Do YOU have first week of French class activity suggestions? Please send them my way at [email protected] and I’d love to add them to this list!
